Struggling readers need text that is cohesive. What exactly does that mean? A cohesive text is one that follows a normal or accepted structure. A cohesive text must have grammatical and lexical linking in order to make sense to struggling readers. In other words, struggling readers need text that makes sense both in the way the sentences are structured and in the way that the vocabulary is used and presented.

So how does this connect to the idea or expectation that all students must be reading increasingly more complex and rigorous texts?

One of the first things that teachers need to do when teaching a new piece of text is to teach domain-specific words alongside more general academic words. Yes, students need to know volcano, platelets, and constitution; but, they also need to know erupt (and all of its forms), analyze, elements, and rational. Vocabulary is an important determinate for text complexity.

Sentence Structure and all of its nuances play a major role in text complexity. Middle schoolers especially are ready to explore syntactic structures that are more complicated. The phrasing, word order, punctuation, and language all play a role in the complexity of the sentence structure.

Coherence is how the particular words, ideas, and sentences in the text connect with one another. Have students make connections between the pronouns and their antecedents. Identify the particular part of speech of certain words to see their role in the sentence.

Students must learn to recognize the organizational structure of texts in order to truly understand the logical sequence of ideas. Teach students to identify compare/contrast and problem/solution structures. Make it a point to ask students to identify those structures in every piece of text that they read.

Vocabulary, sentence structure, coherence, and organization can all be determined by closely analyzing the text itself. In other words, we can teach these things. However, we cannot teach another important skill that is needed for understanding: background knowledge. A student's development, experiences, and cognitive skills all play an important role in how well a student comprehends a text.


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